By ERIN KELLY, Gannett Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Vermont dairy farmers would get new insurance protections against falling milk prices in a sweeping $500 billion farm bill approved Thursday by the Senate.
Programs to conserve Vermont forests and encourage organic farming and environmentally friendly practices also would get a boost in the bipartisan bill.The legislation, which passed the Senate by a vote of 64-35, faces an uncertain future in the House. The House is expected to take it up after the July Fourth recess.
“I think it is going to have a good impact on Vermont and all taxpayers,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who played a key role in crafting the bill as the senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “We cut $23 billion from the deficit, but we still have a safety net that works far better for our dairyfarmers than anything we’ve had before.”
The bill would replace the current federal subsidy for dairy farmers under the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program with a voluntary federal insurance program that would protect farmers’ incomes when milk prices drop sharply. Annual insurance premiums would be lower on a farmers’ first 4 million pounds of milk - the amount produced by an average Vermont dairy farm of 200 to 250 cows.
The insurance program would be coupled with a market stabilization program that discourages dairyfarmers from producing more milk during price dips. Overproduction depresses prices even further, but farmers often feel the need to step up production to try to make up their losses, Leahy’s staff said. The new program would pay farmers less for any milk above their normal production while insuring them against their losses.
Leahy credited Vermont dairyfarmers for coming up with the ideas that were written into the bill. The farmers realized that a direct federal subsidy such as MILC could not be sustained at a time when Congress is trying to reduce the federal deficit, Leahy said.
“If this bill goes all the way through to being signed into law, it could break the roller coaster of dairy price swings that have made a lot of farms go under,” Leahy said.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., fought to get a vote on his amendment to allow Vermont and other states to require food and beverage companies to clearly label any genetically engineered ingredients in their products. The amendment failed 73-26, but Sanders said he was happy that senators at least debated the issue for the first time. He vowed to continue to fight for the legislation.
“I think time is on our side,” he said. “A lot of big food companies oppose it, but polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans want to know if there is genetically engineered ingredients in their food.”
The Vermont Legislature considered a bill early this year that would have required labels on genetically engineered food products. The measure had strong support in the state’s House Agriculture Committee, but died when Monsanto chemical company threatened to sue the state if the legislation passed.
Sanders’ amendment would have clarified that Vermont and other states have the authority to require the labeling if they choose to do so.
The farm bill passed by the Senate would benefit more than dairyfarmers, the senators said. It also would:
- Preserve the Forest Legacy Program that has led to the conservation of almost 78,000 acres of working forests in Vermont. The federal program helps states and private landowners preserve environmentally sensitive forest land by financing agreements in which landowners voluntarily set aside a portion of their property to preserve wildlife habitat and biodiversity.
- Continue an environmental quality incentives program that encourages farmers to prevent manure and other pollution from running off their land into Vermont’s streams, rivers and Lake Champlain.
- Boost crop insurance payments made to organic farmers. The bill also contains money to help farmers pay the cost of certifying their products as organic.
- Preserves a farmers’ market program that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to low-income families and senior citizens in Vermont.
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Contact Erin Kelly at ekelly@gannett.com
